


Monsters

by notveryeloquent



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - MAMA (Music Video), Blood and Violence, Gen, Inspired by The Hunger Games, Lu Han is a shining ray of sunshine, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sadness, Suicide Attempt, also your heart might get ripped out, and kai is an emotionless turd, bc exo may potentially die, i take too long to update so be careful
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-09
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-13 22:40:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7140602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notveryeloquent/pseuds/notveryeloquent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Kai wanted was to escape.</p><p>(Very loosely based off of The Hunger Games with EXO's supernatural powers.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Before

**Author's Note:**

> Hello I'm lowkey freaking out over the parallels between this brainchild of a fic I've had for over two years and the coincidental Monster comeback/music video so naturally I had to set at least the first part of this story free ASAP. This didn't start off serious... but then it got serious. Please enjoy.
> 
> Beware this is unbeta'd. Sorry I'm a mess.
> 
> (Yes I know it's OT12 but I came up with this fic before all the devastating losses so just roll with it.)

All Kai wanted was to escape.

\--

It was the eyes.

So many, too many, penetrating sets of eyes boring into him with crooked curiosity, merciless, tearing his insides apart; following him down halls and around corners, attaching themselves like parasites, holding on to his stoic façade as long as he was in sight and trying to suck out answers he couldn’t give them.

Even if Kai asked, the Handler leading him wouldn’t say anything. Trainees were simply expected to obey without question. So Kai merely followed.

And they watched him. Black holes sucking his skin raw. He wished he could escape their eyes.

\--

It took him a minute and twenty-seven seconds.

_Focus._

Funny how long one needs to work to achieve something that takes a fraction of that time to execute. Like a dancer, practicing the same step again and again, just to get that half a second worth of choreography right. Or training for an obstacle course, designed to make you fail.

He went back eighty-eight times. He beat it in a minute and twenty-seven seconds.

\--

He knew why they stared. It was rare for a TP to be called out of session. Trainees like him were never expected to do anything noteworthy except disappear and reappear and generally stay out of the way.

But they all knew who Kai was. They didn’t miss the quiet, off-putting disposition, or the name burning into the record board outside the Red Light Training Course.

Apparently, neither had their President.

“The Trainee you requested, sir.”

Kai had never been less than a high balcony and a speech directed at the entire institution away from the President before. And now he was but a few strides from the desk in his office, or what Kai assumed was his office in all the shadow. There were no windows in the institution, not even in the buildings within. Kai stood on a rug in the center of the room, the only space graced in artificial light. It felt like a spotlight, warning him he couldn’t let his expression falter, especially now. The President always had a better view of him, after all.

He now leaned forward, gracing Kai with his undivided attention. “Kai,” he said, testing the name with the face. Kai found he couldn’t break away from the man’s predatory eyes as they ran over him, inspecting him, checking that he matched his description.

“Show me your mark.”

The command familiar, Kai flashed the symbol of Teleportation he’d been born with on reflex, a brand of fate on the tender side of his wrist.

The President scrutinized it too, before exhaling through his nose, almost in disapproval, and continuing, “I hope your record on the Red Light Course accomplished what you wanted it to.”

Kai didn’t have time to consider what this might mean before the President was settling back in his chair and congratulating Kai with the enthusiasm of a funeral announcement, “You have been chosen to represent our branch of SM Entertainment in this year’s Eclipse Games.”

\--

“Do you think you have a family outside the walls?”

“I don’t know, but it’s the dream, isn’t it?”

“I wonder how many siblings I have.”

“What my house looks like.”

“I wonder what my _parents_ look like.”

“Too bad you have to get into the Games to find out.”

“It’d be worth it.”

Kai kept his distance from the idiotic, conversing Trainees in the courtyard, not wanting to waste his time with fantasies.

\--

It was in Kai’s nature to be speechless, but now he was actively _speechless_. The _world_ would be speechless – a TP had never been chosen before.

And never like this. Usually each institution held a ceremony: Trainees would be gathered by their Trainers and Handlers to the main building and the President would get up on that balcony and reiterate the same message he gave every other year – “It’s a great honor and a privilege granted only to the most promising of his or her institution to prove his or her worth as an allied protector of the human race.” Trainees fought other Trainees to the death before the casting of the Lunar Eclipse, and if you survived, you went ‘home’ to the outside world to protect, to serve, to potentially meet your family. It was the last course, the final show. No one had ever declined. Everyone had been grateful.

So Kai didn’t know what came over him as he hesitated, the one legal document he’d ever seen laid out in front of him, a contract to sign his life away once and for all, as he still tried to throw his options from one metaphorical hand to the other, as if he ever had a choice.

\--

The eyes. The eyes were too much.

He was not escorted back, so they leered, they drained, they openly watched Kai walk across the institute, like spectators, like aliens, none daring to take that extra leap and break the silence between them. It was torture keeping his countenance firmly expressionless. But he could let nothing show in his eyes. There could be nothing they could take from him in his eyes.

He didn’t blink, didn’t breathe, didn’t remember what the President said to him until he reached his room.

Had that been what he wanted?  He curled up on his mattress, tucking his knees under his chin.

_No._

His breaths came shallow and rapid. He snapped with his right hand, triangle mark shimmering cyan.

_Silence._

He disappeared for a split second – you wouldn’t notice if you blinked – yet reappeared in the same spot, as if he'd made a mistake. It was a fluke in his power he discovered despite the Blocks placed on his room. His breathing accelerated, he kept snapping.

 _Silence_ , still the same spot, _silence_ , still the same, _silence_ , still. He started alternating hands – _silence_ , still, _silence_ , still, _silence_ , still – he was trying not to think of anything, of anywhere – _silence_ , still, _silence_ , still, _silence_ , still – he had to catch the hitch, he had to _breathe_ damnit.

 _Silence_ , still, _silence_ , still, _silence_ , still, _silence_ still _silence_ still _silence_ still _silence_ still _silence_ still—

_SNAP._

It was loud and sharp, both hands, in unison. Through blurry eyes Kai could still recognize the sheets of his bed.

Everyone would hear him if he screamed. So his arms wrapped around shaking legs and he dug his knees into eyes too hopeless to cry instead.

All Kai wanted was to escape.

But not like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHO'S EXCITED IM EXCITED WOW THIS MOTIVATION (tbh this fic is gonna be the death of me ((orthedeathofexoWHATwhosaidthat)) here we go)
> 
> Thank you for reading!!


	2. The Eclipse Games

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter kicked my ass please enjoy (unbeta'd & subject to changes)

Kai’s world consisted of only two things: himself, and everything else around him.

It was easier to group everything else together, this made every day decisions simple; what to do, when to speak, who to avoid. It kept his mind clear, helped him remain self-aware. Which was imperative, according to his Trainers.

But Kai had never left the institution before.

It looked like a giant box from the outside. All ninety-degree angles and flat surfaces, lidded, windowless, with walls scraping the sky. He could easily picture everything that made up the inside—the courtyard and the individual practice facilities and the dorm rooms and the President’s office, and all their details even in all their darkness.

It was so bright out here.

Kai had sometimes tried to imagine it, what the world looked like. Now, eyes squinting from the airborne shuttle, he didn’t have to imagine anymore. It quickly became brilliant green under his feet. Became grass and bushes and trees he only knew were such from landscapes he’d seen in the Games, dabbed with giant blues of water and bold reds and browns and greys, then a sudden rich mix of colors that seemed unnatural in equally strange arrangements he was too far away to comprehend. If by some miracle he won, he would live amongst all of that.

He would live amongst humans.

They were down there. He knew they were, though he couldn’t make them out. Some of the colors edged and became small buildings in his vision – houses maybe – and Kai wondered for a moment which one belonged to him.

The next moment he was jerking his head up, forcing the delusional Trainee speculation from his mind. He knew better. After all, they’d been told their whole lives – they weren’t human. He didn’t belong there.

He cleared his thoughts and imagined his room. Just as boxy as the institution itself, his bed in the corner, the door he hardly used. He imagined the TP practice facility. The maze had been his favorite. He missed his room, missed the practice facility, their stillness and familiarity. Places, not people.

Out the window below him his institution shrunk farther and farther away. Kai shifted, a rare, irrational part of him wanting to try. Try snapping back inside.

Which was ironic, only because he had spent every waking moment of his life trying to snap out. And was impossible, only because his hands were locked in two joint cylinders the Handlers had called Block Cuffs high enough to cover the mark on his wrist.

He watched until his institution was out of sight. Crawled down on his knees, pressed his cheek against the transparent floor, the only window available, and tried to keep from blinking. His institution held everything else. It _was_ everything else. It was the only thing he’d ever known.

He would never see it again.

\--

There were humans outside the Game House. Kai didn’t see them until they landed and led him out of the shuttle into natural, blinding light, but it was still too soon.

Trainees had been constantly monitored at the institution. Video cameras had captured every angle of the grounds, so they were used to being watched. They were dangerous. But it kept things in order there, kept them from fighting each other. This was different.

Handlers huddled around Kai, covered his every angle from camera flashes as they bent him through the crowd. Humans. Tons of humans. Closer to him than he’d ever experienced. Climbing over each other, pushing and shoving each other, knocking his Handlers into his shoulders. Kai kept his eyes on his feet and tried to ignore every anxious nerve in his body screaming at him to snap away. Tried to filter out the humans screaming in his face –

_“Move we can’t see him!”_

_“Which branch do you come from?”_

_“I heard there was a TC!”_

_“Are you the TC?!”_

He wanted to escape.

“ _Obedient_.”

Kai barely heard his Handlers exchange the quiet word with the humans in uniform standing at the entrance a few steps later, but it freed him, brought him through the doors of the Game House and gave him a bit of relief.

Kai had only ever seen the inside of the Game House through a television screen, but it was almost as disorderly and cramped with humans as the outside, though it looked the same in person: white sterile walls, hallways off of every corner, female Handlers running back and forth between it all. One of them pointed to Kai, and a man in the nicest suit Kai had ever seen on an Announcer scurried over to tell his Handlers, _“We’re running late, just send him straight to hair and make-up”_ , before he hurried to the other end of the giant room, where, for the first time, Kai saw Trainees from other institutions pre-show. One of the two was tall, surrounded by more Handlers than Kai could count, but struggling violently, defiantly, in his Block Cuffs. The other, looking just as vicious, stood seething, but completely contained. Not just in Block Cuffs, but in an entire transparent box. A cage.

Kai stared so long they had to drag him into the room labelled _‘Make-up 9’_.

There a group of men and women whirled him into a chair faster than he could think and held strange objects up to his face, chittering swiftly between themselves ( _“No no, skin’s too dark. This’ll do.” “Don’t worry we’ll have you looking positively shocking for your debut picture.” “This one’s pretty tame. Thank goodness we got the TP and not a Pyro, the hotheads.” “Did you hear there was a TC this year too?”_ ), while Kai focused all his energy into keeping his features relaxed, stoic, erasing any fear or confusion that might linger in his eyes.

Humans liked getting too close. Maybe it was safer that they saw them behind a television screen.

\--

An hour later, Kai didn’t recognize himself. They blew his hair out wild and crazy, lightened it so it was almost grey, added red and black accents around his eyes and lips. Everything about him looked sharper. And nastier.

“ _I’d put you at the top of_ my _bias list, if I could have one_ ,” one of his stylists had said, and, at the time, Kai had silently agreed.

But that was before he entered the studio, where the other Trainees were gathered in matching black uniforms, each flanked by Handlers, each as made-up as the last, all accentuated cheekbones and smoky eyes. Some had piercings. But they all looked the same. They all looked terrifying.

The Announcer who had rushed Kai along when he’d first arrived was standing in front, facing them at a podium next to a screen. He still looked a little frazzled as someone with a clipboard shouted for complete silence on the set and Kai’s Handlers led him to his place.

And then it began.

\--

 _“It’s everyone’s favorite time of year again – SM Entertainment’s Eclipse Games!”_  the man had pulled it together in front of the camera – animated and confident, just like every Announcer who had given the Debut Broadcast before him, “ _Where only the best, most loyal Trainees from each SM branch are chosen to compete in an epic fight to the death to prove themselves the least heartless, the most valiant, the one we can trust to protect us when our peace is threatened! It is their duty. It is their destiny.”_

He went on to explain the story Kai could’ve recited himself, how seventy years ago during a natural solar eclipse the first of his kind was discovered as an orphan who could not restrain his abnormal powers, how the human race accepted and nurtured and taught him control and values. How he lost his mind and betrayed them when they found others like him, how they saved the others, took them in and trained them exclusively, and continued to do so year after year for the safety of everyone. How they allowed them a chance, _this_ chance, to join the human race.

 _“Let’s see what powers are in this year!”_  He turned and the screen beside him blinked to life.

Kai ticked them off, one to twelve. He noted a Pyro, an Avian, a TK, a BK, a GK – they were always in. A Healer and a PTK, interesting choices, as they weren’t combat-based. Water elementals CK and HKs were expected to show up every couple years, as well as the air elemental AKs. And a TC, a Time Controller, just as rumored.

Then ‘ _Teleportation (TP)_ ’ faded up onto the screen, and the Announcer paused, as if he never expected to see it. “ _And – well would you look at that – for the first time, ladies and gentlemen, we will have a TP, a Teleporter for those who don’t keep up with the reports, a_ TP _joining us for their first Games in history! I don’t know about those of you at home, but I’m looking forward to the kind of show he’ll put on, as they are not particularly combat-based!_ ”

It was true Kai didn’t know much combat, but he knew how to avoid.

And so naturally, the entire time the Announcer talked, Kai felt the overwhelming urge to snap away. Felt every Trainee and Handler and audience’s eyes on him, even though their attention was strictly on the broadcast. On reflex he tried to move his fingers only to remember he was still wearing the Cuffs. Nobody could see his mark. Nobody knew it was him yet.

Eventually the Announcer addressed them personally, an honorable air about him, “ _From this point forward you are no longer Trainees. You are now Members of the 68 th Eclipse Games._” He looked back into the camera, addressing the invisible audience with a new air, “ _See if_ you _can guess who has which power!_ ”

The headshots they had taken only minutes earlier flashed onscreen. One brooding with sharp cheekbones and multiple pointed earrings, one with midnight black hair and a daring, mischievous smirk, one with eyes like an owl and a scar drawn over the right side of his brow. Facts like name and branch, height and weight, lined each of their sides. Kai held his breath when he saw his own.

But one in particular stood out. The name flashed: _Luhan_.

It seemed appropriate he was named after a deer. Giant eyes. Slim, delicate face. In blatant honesty, he looked like a girl. They had also given him bleach blond hair, which was unexpected. But he stood out because he was _smiling_.

Kai couldn’t decide whether he was just inanely proud to be in the Games, or if he was just an idiot. You could count all of his teeth. Nobody _smiled_ in the Games. Let alone this brightly.

All heads, Member and Handler alike, searched for him in the room. And there he was in the middle of their group, looking unperturbed. And like a girl.

There was a remarkable chill in the air when a cat-eyed Member from another China branch was shown, but Kai found that debut impressions were more exciting when you weren’t part of them.

At the end of the broadcast the Announcer directly asked the Member’s Pledge questions Kai had memorized after years of watching (the most important always being: “ _Will you use your powers for the greater good of the human race?_ ” to which they would always answer: “ _Yes_.”) before giving the traditional final send off.

“ _You have learned to harness, to control your abilities. You have reached the peak of your training. You are the best of your institution_. _But you are also careless, mindless, heartless. You are here, to prove that wrong. To prove ”_ – his eyes found Kai’s – “ _that you aren’t monsters._ ”

\--

_Silence._

There wasn’t a word in any language Kai knew to describe silence. It didn’t do anything, it didn’t make a sound, yet he always knew when it was there. Sometimes he could feel it lingering in suspense, could hear it in the absence of things. Other times it was too still, and he would lose control knowing it was there but being unable to grasp it.

The greatest moment of silence Kai had ever experienced was when he was teleporting. In the micro-millisecond it took for him to get from one place to another, there was blank space. And for that micro-millisecond he could hear nothing, see nothing, feel nothing. Not until he reappeared. But, secretly, Kai wished he could stop right in between. Not somewhere new, not where he once was. He wished he could end up nowhere.

Kai sat alone and rubbed his free hands in the too-brightly-lit bedroom they provided and wondered what kind of monster that made him.

\--

There were too many people. People running in and out of his room bringing him meals, cleaning spaces he’d never touched, escorting him to and from Member meetings and light training. He just wanted them all to go away. To disappear.

But every single one of these people was human. They couldn’t do what he could do. That was the point.

So with only a few days until the Solar Eclipse, the start of the Games, Kai cherished the tiny amounts of silence and stillness he got. One morning Kai had woken up ready to train but was swerved off to wardrobe for promotional shootings. Another night they refreshed the Members on the aids: how the Blocks, Cancels, and Boosts in the Games were different than the ones used in their institutes because of their limitations. During private training Kai confirmed that Blocks still kept him from teleporting outside the area, Boosts still allowed him to teleport things he wasn’t touching, and the Cancel still inhibited him from teleporting altogether. They were warned about the ridiculously slim chance of getting their own Cancel in the Games, and Kai couldn’t enjoy the peaceful silence in his room that night when his mind was buzzing over the thought of, _what if I can’t teleport?_

In group training, where they shared a Cancelled combat practice room overlooked by the camera crew and Announcer, Kai could overhear him reminding the audience to buy their Bias Lists. A way for viewers to choose who to root for, who they favored and wanted to win. It was strange and a bit surreal not setting up his own this year (even if the ones provided at the institution had been free and therefore didn’t count toward the Ultimate List anyway), so Kai planned one out in his head that night, putting himself at the bottom.

\--

It was the last broadcast.

They were corralled back into the studio where they had held the Debut Broadcast, except now it was drowning in merchandise displayed with their faces and banners that exclaimed ‘ _68 th_ _Eclipse Games – TOMORROW’_. Kai thought it might as well be advertising his death.

Halfway through, he noticed one of the Members was missing. It was the one with the owl eyes, whose mouth drew you in, but he couldn’t think of his name. He wondered how you could miss an official broadcast.

“ _…And don’t forget! It’s your last chance to pay for your Bias Lists! Lists will open up tomorrow for you to choose who –_ ”

“Would there be any repercussions if we refuse to kill the other Members?”

Silence, the awkward kind, fell on the room. The voice didn’t belong to any of the crew members who glanced to each other in shock, even the Announcer looked dumbfounded. Kai followed his stare to the Member with bleach blond hair in the middle of the room.

Luhan.

No Member had ever, _ever_ spoken, let alone shouted over an Announcer, during an official broadcast. It was disrespectful. It could get you punished. And Kai figured Games-level punishment was far worse than institution-level punishment.

But Luhan looked unafraid. Even weary.

There was a gruff clearing of the throat. “ _Well_ ,” the Announcer began, actually _answering_ him, to everyone’s amazement, “ _Strategically speaking, I don’t see why any of you would want to jeopardize your image by doing that in the first place. But, in a hypothetical situation, you would no doubt –_ ”

“It’s not hypothetical.”

The Announcer’s professional front came crashing down in that instant, exposing himself to the world. Cameramen fumbled to switch to commercial.

They were all excused. Kai wondered if the Games would still have twelve Members tomorrow.

\--

The Eclipse Games started with the Solar Eclipse and ended with the Lunar. What happened in between was up to the Members.

Kai couldn’t sleep. There was too much to sort in his world.

If he had the opportunity, if he had the means, would he? Could he kill another like himself? He had never thought about it before, but it was really what the Games always boiled down to wasn’t it?

Could a monster kill another monster?

 


	3. Day 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I thought the last chapter kicked my ass lol..... anyway SORRY for the long wait, now rejoice because IT'S HERE (unbeta'd & subject to changes)

There was a strange kind of comfort that came from silence. Kai felt it in his soul, felt it relaxing into his bones, like a lullaby, like a calm before the storm.

He closed his eyes in the darkness.

_30…_

Teleporting would only get him killed now. They’d confined him to a transparent tube with a special Cancel on it; if he tried to break out before the countdown was over, he’d die immediately.

_26…_

The tube elevated him toward the game’s landscape. Kai tried to enjoy the last few seconds of safe silence he had.

_24…_

The Trainees at his institute must be watching now. Kai could picture the courtyard filled with them, heads tilted upward to the giant screen above the President’s building, eyes wide and crude and watching. He wondered who they’d be rooting for. Could picture himself among them. Wished between clenched teeth he still was.

_20…_

Dim light slid his eyes open as the tube pushed him into view. The first glimpse of the Game landscape was shrouded in dreamy darkness, the world slowly building around him tinted red. He looked to the Solar Eclipse high above him, a black marvel in the sky, a halo of yellow around it. In front of him he recognized the thick trunk and bushy leaves of the Tree of Life, the center of every Game. Boosts hung from its branches, Blocks gathered at its base, Cancels and various weapons were scattered among them.

_15…_

The rules were simple – get to the Tree of Life under the Solar Eclipse and receive immediate aids, or die trying. Make it back to the Tree of Life by the Lunar Eclipse and live. Live, and be free forever.

_13…_

Or die in one last fight for a winner, Kai was reminded, as the other Members slowly emerged from the ground in their tubes beside him. Torsos, then thighs, then knees. One of the two he had seen before the broadcasts, the one who had been trapped in the box, was on his right. And there was the one with the big lips and owl eyes on his left, the one who had been missing yesterday. If he was back, then there must be twelve of them.

_10…_

He held his breath when the tubes stopped. He was standing on cracked earth, a disconnected platform, an island, floating far above a thin fog. The Tree of Life was floating on an island of earth too, though a much bigger one, and so were the other Members, the Tree stationed between them all. Some had narrow pathways or additional islands leading them easily to the Tree of Life. But there was no path on Kai’s side. The only way to the Tree was to teleport.

_5…_

Kai surveyed his options, memorizing what he could see. There was the edge of a thick forest behind the Members across from him.

_4…_

Glimpses of the body of water behind Members to his left.

_3…_

The barren, desert plains behind him.

_2…_

He saved the Tree of Life and its island for last.

_Focus._

_1._

The tubes shot down.

_Snap._

The tattoo on his wrist flashed bright, free, and in a split second the Tree of Life was a mere arm’s length from his face, the soles of his feet fresh on the new dirt ground. The rush he always got from watching on TV hit him tenfold now, now that he was _in it_ , concentrated hot in his chest, flew light through his arms as he plunged his hands into the aids at the Tree’s base, searching frantically for the Teleportation Cancel. He had to find it before the others got there. He had to find it to survive.

The first attack hit him hard – a sudden gust of wind. Sent him soaring, dropped him mercilessly, wincing and gasping, at the edge of the island. He was usually keenly aware of his surroundings, but no doubt this was the work of the Aerokinetic, and Kai was not used to dealing with AKs. Or really anybody, for that matter.

He rolled himself over to catch his breath, but stopped, coming face to face with the fatal drop below, sharp rocks looking ominous in the fog.

If he had landed just a bit farther, his Game would have been over. He had to be more careful, he had to be more observant. He gathered the strength to sit up –

And the Avian landed heavy at his side.

The nice thing about being a TP was that you were never trapped. Kai could easily snap away, pop up safely anywhere else. But their eyes locked, and suddenly, he was.

Black holes. The kind that sucked his very soul in. Raw, monstrous. Kai flashed back to the institution. To the eyes. Black and raw and void. But the Avian’s weren’t empty like the Trainee’s had been. There was something there, something angry. And Kai was too terrified to move.

The Avian scoffed and it was menacing, mocking. He merely blew air out his nostrils like Kai wasn’t worth his time, and took off for the Tree.

He didn’t die. Two encounters with death and Kai was still alive.

He looked to the Tree. The Member with wide eyes grabbed one thing, concealed it before Kai could tell what it was, and lifted himself off the platform on a piece of the earth. So he was Geokinetic – the GK. Then a blur caught the corner of his eye, speeding around the Tree like he was set in fast forward. _The TC._

Kai had to move. Staying still was not an option if he wanted to last.

The Tree was a mess of Members fighting, fire and ice, static-filled air. Kai had lost his head start advantage, but the thought of someone else getting his Cancel was too terrifying to ignore. He spotted an opening by the Tree and teleported there, glanced at the rearranged piles of Blocks and Cancels at his feet, and when he didn’t see the TP Cancel he teleported again. He only allowed himself a second or two to search, snapping to new locations around the Tree as quickly as his mind could imagine them. He spied the cylindrical Cancels adorned with symbols of the other Members but he couldn’t find his own, and he needed to grab _something_. The Solar Eclipse wouldn’t last much longer. And the Tree along with its aids would go with it.

He blindly grabbed a Block. And as luck would have it, when he stood his symbol practically stared him in the face from the branches above, engraved on a dangling triangle necklace he slipped past the leaves and straight onto his neck.

Then a strange breeze blew the remaining Boosts to the ground, and someone ran into him.

If Kai thought his first fall had hurt, landing on sharp Boosts and Blocks this time was much worse. It didn’t help that another Member had fallen on top of him either, and as he struggled to get up Kai felt his fingers brush the Block in his hand, accidentally switching it on.

The Member took one look at the glowing aid and punched Kai in the face.

It didn’t hurt as much as Kai thought his first punch might, but his teeth cut the inside of his cheek and his skin stung, and he barely had time to take a breath before he was hit again, his head thrown to the side. He could see the swirling symbol on the Block in his hand. It was the AK’s.

Hands reached for his neck, but Kai was quick to grab the AK’s arms, flipping them over. Air blew dirt wildly under them, but none of it touched Kai, the small, sharp Block cutting skin between his hand and the AK’s forearm as he held him back.

But Kai was no fighter. It wasn’t long before the AK flipped them over again, hands getting closer to Kai’s throat as Kai’s arms shook. The Aerokinetic looked fierce, almost maniacal, fake scars smearing, the makeup already fading from his face, revealing the true monster underneath. Kai’s eyes closed, fear coursing through his shaking limbs, losing strength too, too quickly.

Light suddenly burst around them, an explosion beyond his eyelids. Kai felt the AK let off a little, startled by the flash, and took his opportunity. He all but kicked the AK off, imagined the edge of the forest nearby, and snapped before he was grabbed again.

He didn’t open his eyes until he felt soft grass under him, the blinding light and an animalistic scream behind him, the echo and darkness of the forest ahead.

Kai ran, clutching the AK Block he’d grabbed tight in his hand, his TP Boost bouncing against his pounding heart. He didn’t have his Cancel, but he couldn’t go back now. Light faded and grew simultaneously, the Eclipse coming to an end. He would just have to avoid. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid.

The forest was dense with bushes and wide-trunked trees canopying above him, and Kai might’ve missed him if he wasn’t constantly memorizing his surroundings.

He was sitting with his back against a tree trunk, his legs tucked up underneath him and arms outstretched, a knife pointed straight at his chest.

Kai would have just let him go. He’d seen plenty of suicides in past Games, even contemplated doing it himself, maybe. But he remembered the boy’s words. How they had kept him up last night. How they had made sense.

Kai snapped and snatched the knife right out of Luhan’s hands.

Surprise froze Luhan’s body from its shaking sobs. He stared at the knife, then at Kai, like he’d never seen him before. And Kai stared back, paralyzed.

Kai thought a lot about places he could disappear to. Places of nothing but pale white light or cascaded black shadows filled with nonexistence. But for the few seconds this pretty-boy stared up at him, eyes wide and red and helpless, none of that came to mind.

His eyes were rich, filled with something vibrant – a world. There was a whole world in those eyes. A world more beautiful than anything Kai could have ever imagined. A world he had never seen before. A new world.

And then it was gone, as Luhan turned his gaze to the ground in front of him, partly in shame, partly convinced that even if Kai was going to kill him, it didn’t matter anymore.

“I’m going to die anyway. Might as well get it over with now.”

He could. He could do it. The knife’s silver blade shone and weighed heavy in his hand.

But Kai wanted to see those bright eyes again. He felt the words push themselves out, words he didn't know he believed himself, the first thing he had said to anyone else in a long time.

“But you might not die.”

Luhan scoffed and gave him a look between skeptical and disgusted, silently begging Kai not to mess with his head. His eyes were dull but Kai would have sworn he saw them shimmer.

“We’re barely ten minutes into the game. How do I know I can trust you?” Luhan asked, more out of hopelessness than actual curiosity.

The breath Kai finally took was shallow, but honest.

“You can’t.”

And then he dropped the knife and turned to leave. He’d never spoken so much to anyone like this. His brain was malfunctioning. He didn’t know what else to do.

He only made it a few steps.

“Here.”

Luhan stiffened a bit, but managed to catch the AK Block tossed at him, a little harder than intended. It was no longer glowing, its first use over and recharging.

And Kai was gone.

\--

It was so much easier to breathe out here.

Kai had never run long distances, but any endurance activity had him panting at the institution. Being locked within four walls didn’t allow for much air flow. He was able to catch his breath quickly in this open air, fresh and clean in his lungs. He almost forgot how disgusting he felt.

The sound of a river tempted his ears and he headed toward it, knelt at its bank, allowing relief to wash over him as he splashed the cool water on his sweat soaked face, flushing out the cut on his hand.

His reflection rippled in the stream. Make-up ran black from his eyes, skin splotching different shades of tan and red; his lightened hair had lost its stiffness, flopping over his forehead. He remembered the AK’s face contorting above him. This was what monsters looked like. Crazy, disheveled. Inhuman.

_Could a monster kill another monster?_

Kai closed his eyes to clear his head. Breathed.

The trees came right up to the shore which meant plenty of space to hide. He could stay here. Game winners had always stayed near water.

He submerged his whole face in the river, scrubbed hard at the lingering make-up and stains of blood, then rubbed the water out of his eyes.

And saw one of the Members.

He was just as shocked as Kai was, seeing someone else already so deep in the woods. He stood across the river, a faint hint of static filling the air as he rubbed his hands together and stuck them in the water. Kai jumped back just before the river sparked with an electric current.

He was Brontokinetic, the BK. He attacked faster than Kai could think, baring his teeth cold and sending a small string of lighting straight from his hands in Kai’s direction. Kai glanced up and teleported to the top of the tree he was under. The lightning zapped the base instead, scorching it. Kai remained still, hidden in the leaves, trying to focus on where to go next. He had to avoid. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid –

Lightning struck the tree again, this time setting it on fire. Kai had no time to think, he jumped to the ground as it toppled into the river.

And collided with someone.

They went down with a yelp. Kai frantically tried to untangle his legs from the unknown Member, who rolled himself over, apologizing profusely.

It was Luhan.

There was no time to gape, no time to move away, Kai saw the strike come right for them, so he snapped.

White light. Silence. The next thing either of them knew, they had both reappeared in a familiar part of the forest – grass Kai had run over earlier, plants he had seen before – far from the river and the BK. Both unharmed, but both of their legs still touching.

Kai pulled back as if he’d been shocked anyway.

Luhan wasn’t so fazed by their closeness. His head whipped around, an almost hilariously flabbergasted expression on his face, completely preoccupied by their new surroundings, what just happened, what this Member had just done. His eyes finally fell on Kai, who flinched.

“I didn’t know TPs could teleport more than just themselves!” Luhan exclaimed, awestruck.

Kai was only half surprised he didn’t immediately try to attack him. After all, that was what usually happened between two Members in the Games. He sat there dumbstruck, but more out of the fact that he found himself responding.

“If we couldn’t, then we’d be showing up naked everywhere.”

It took him a moment, but then Luhan burst out laughing, a small bark followed by tinny squeaks. Kai was taken aback. He’d never made anyone laugh before.

“You’ve got a point,” Luhan snickered.

Kai only let the silence settle for an uncomfortable beat. Then he was up, abruptly walking off.

“Wait, where are you going?” Luhan called after him.

Kai was going to get away as soon as possible, because Luhan made him feel awkward and Luhan also might turn around and kill him, but he hesitated. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw something more like the Luhan from before. Something lost, somewhat desperate, confused. Something... almost human.

Kai held his breath. Saving him was a bad idea, even if it was sort of unintentional. He was still a Member. He was still a monster.

“Don’t leave me here alone.”

_Alone._

That was all Kai wanted. That was all he was striving to achieve. When he was alone he could concentrate, reach his full potential. He excelled alone. He preferred alone.

But Luhan’s voice was so small. So loud in his head.

“I found you because I trust you,” Luhan admitted. Even in all the shadow, Luhan’s eyes were light. Two bright worlds.

Kai had never seen a partnership in the Games where neither Member had a Block nor Cancel on the other. But if he was being honest, Luhan did look convincingly sincere. Even if he was hiding Kai’s Cancel, Kai doubted he would use it. Not if he wanted to take advantage of Kai’s powers again.

And just like that, his world was out of balance. There were no longer two things. Luhan was going to be in his picture, and nothing matched up anymore. Kai, Luhan, and everything else? It wasn't two. It didn’t make sense. It wasn’t what he was used to.

But it was easier to breathe out here, and Luhan was smiling.

\--

It didn’t take long for Kai to regret his decision. Luhan liked to _talk_.

On top of educating Kai on nearly every detail about himself, Luhan had the audacity to _ask_ him things: What was his name? (“ _Kai._ ”) What institutional branch was he from? (“ _Seoul, South Korea._ ”) How old was he? (“ _Around eighteen._ ”) Even when Kai stopped answering, the questions kept coming: Was his institution nice? What was his favorite thing to eat? Was Korean food very different from Chinese? What kind of training did Teleporters have? Did he get along with his Trainers? What were his friends like?

Kai could not understand how anyone could have so much to say to someone they, one, didn't know, and two, considered the enemy. He was thankful at how fast the night fell upon them. The night brought silence.

And that’s when they saw it. A blinking light in the sky. A basket, falling right into Luhan’s arms.

It was big, almost too much to hold. Luhan opened the top and was met with more food than he’d ever seen at one time. Kai gaped and his mouth instantly watered, reminding him of how long ago his last meal had been.

Luhan didn’t look so relieved.

“So my family pushed me to the top of the Bias List this quickly…”

Kai blinked.

“How do you know it’s from your family?” he asked, suspicious.

Luhan shrugged. “It’s just speculation,” he sighed, “But who else would get me the biggest prize on the first night, huh?”

Kai could think of a few, like some high-profile corporations, but as far as he knew Luhan hadn’t done anything to show off his ability yet. He didn’t even know what Luhan’s power was. So he kept quiet.

Another light descended from the sky, this time landing in Kai’s hands.

It was small. Much smaller than Luhan’s. When Kai opened the container all he found was a bit of bread and water, barely enough for one person.

He wasn’t last on the List, but close to it.

“It’s getting dark. Might as well spend the night here,” Luhan said, dropping his basket in the grass and digging into its contents. Kai sat slowly and sipped his water.

“We should alternate sleeping schedules,” Luhan mentioned between bites, “So someone’s always on look out. I don’t mind taking first watch.”

As skeptical as Kai was, he was also exhausted. He’d done much more fighting than teleporting today and it was taking its toll. He didn’t fully trust Luhan, but he didn’t have the energy to argue. He just finished his bread.

It wasn’t enough. But he would survive.

Then his stomach growled embarrassingly. He tried to cover it up by clearing his throat, but the damage had been done. He didn’t know what the reaction would be, but the last thing he expected was more food to appear in front of him.

Kai followed the arm to Luhan’s expectant face.

“Don’t refuse. That would be stupid.”

There was a faint scar painted on Luhan’s lip. In fact most of his make-up was still on.

For a moment, Kai found it hard to believe there was a monster underneath.

\--

The night was cool when Kai lay down to sleep, his stomach full. Silence had finally settled on their world. But it wasn't comforting tonight.

Kai was in the Eclipse Games. And he wasn’t alone.

He locked an image of another landscape in his mind, his fingers poised to snap, just in case.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's commented and left kudos and added to that hit count so far. I look back all the time for motivation and what you guys say and do really keeps me going!! (But warning: buckle in for a wild ride WOOHOO)


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